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MILLERSVILLE — Three straight years, Minersville’s run in the PIAA Class AA state playoffs ended with a loss in the Round of 16.

Each time, it was Neumann-Goretti of Philadelphia that did the Battlin’ Miners in.

Thursday night at Penn Manor High School, Minersville got that second-round monkey off its back with a 75-30 cruise over District 1 champion Sacred Heart.

To the Miners and head coach Jared Homa, it didn’t matter a bit that it wasn’t Neumann-Goretti, now playing up a class in AAA, on the other side.

“That was our bugaboo the last couple years ... three straight years,” said Homa, whose team improved to 28-0 on the season and 107-6 over the past four seasons. “It’s nice to get out of here with a win and into the quarterfinals.”

Details of Minersville’s quarterfinal matchup with

either District 4 representative Sayre or District 12’s West Catholic won’t be announced until the weekend. The Sayre-West Catholic Round of 16 matchup will be played tonight due to weather and travel considerations, giving Homa and his staff an opportunity to take in the game.

Fueled by Adrienne Kroznuskie knocking down three straight 3-pointers, the Miners rolled out to a 15-4 lead in the first four minutes, 24-9 by the end of the first quarter, leaving little doubt about the eventual outcome, even though the Lions were much more dangerous than first-round opponent William Sayre High School of Philadelphia, a game Minersville won 86-26.

“We knew coming in it would be a much different game than that one,” said Homa. “14 (Eileen Piombino) is a really good guard, and the big girl (sophomore post player Kyra Quigley) are both very good.”

Both players proved, at least at times, to be a thorn in the Miners’ side. Problem was, they didn’t get a lot of help. Piombino scored a team-high 15 points, Quigley added six blocks and nine points, but the remainder of the team could only muster six points.

All while across the way, Minersville had nine players find the scoring column and four — led by Emily Mealey’s 17 — reach double digits. The Miners also had a pressure defense that forced the Lions into 28 turnovers, including 19 in the first half, fueling the fire as they rolled out to their insurmountable lead.

“Adrienne did a nice job defensively on 14 (Piombino), picking her up full-court,” said Homa. “And she still had her legs under her to shoot like she did.

“That says a lot about her work ethic and her conditioning. I could tell during warmups that Adrienne was shooting well.”

And when Kroznuskie and Mealey both picked up their second foul early in the second period and sat out the last six-plus minutes before the break, the Miners never missed a beat, increasing their lead from 28-9 at that point to 44-15 by halftime.

“It was tough (taking them out) because Adrienne was red hot there when she got called for that second foul,” Homa said. “But both Emily and Adrienne did a really good job keeping their focus when they were on the bench.

“These kids know when something happens, when we get a shot blocked or when we get in foul trouble like that, we have to press forward. They came out ready to play in the second half.”

It was Mealey and Kroznuskie that fueled a third-quarter run that pushed the game into a mercy rule situation. Kroznuskie and Schoffstall each knocked down a triple inside the first minute of the third quarter, and Mealey scored eight of her game-high 17 before the Miners went to reserves for the remainder of the game.

Senior reserve Maura Bentz also had a nice game for Minersville, finishing with seven points, including four during the time in the second quarter when Mealey and Kroznuskie were on the bench with foul trouble and a long 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

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